Radish sat in a plain room in the back of the courthouse, staring at the bare folding table in front of him. The door opened a crack, and Spats poked his head in the room. He gave a sheepish grimace.
“Hey, buddy…”
“Spats… what the fuck was that?”
Spats winced and entered the room. “Okay, so, there was a courtroom tactic we didn’t quite anticipate…”
“Spats, what the fuck was that!?”
“I, uh, don’t know. It was a catchy tune, though. The bailiff is still humming it.”
“We can appeal this, right?”
“We sure can! But… we’ll have to do it with a different lawyer. The firm dropped you.”
“Why?”
“They thought this would be a quick and easy prestige case. Instead, it made them a laughingstock. They want to wash their hooves of it.”
“Everything Flim and Flam said was a lie! They’re not even real specialists!”
“I looked into that. It turns out anypony can start up a childhood development institute in their living room and call themselves experts on foal rearing. There’s no certification standards or anything.”
“Can’t we call for a mistrial or something?”
“Well, the judge has to do that. And Judge Bangs is refusing to admit any errors occurred in the trial.”
“But errors did occur.”
“Oh, yeah. A boatload.”
“Then, can we do something about Judge Bangs? Get him unbenched or something?”
“Disbarred. Yes! But to do that…”
The door swung open. Princess Celestia walked into the room.
“To do that, we’d have to make a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Committee,” she said.
“Yeah, the JCIC,” said Spats.
“Well, then, let’s do that,” Radish said.
“That’s what I just finished attempting to do,” sighed Celestia.
“Attempting, ma’am?” asked Spats.
“Yes, I’ve been meeting with the JCIC members. Out of the five of them, the first said she wholeheartedly agrees with the verdict, out of concern for her children’s future. The second said the same thing, out of concern for his future children. The third is Judge Bangs’s mother. The fourth was out on vacation and left no contact information. And the fifth didn’t even know he was on the committee. Their decisions all have to be unanimous, by the way.”
“Well, who do we complain to about them?”
“They were appointed by, and answer to, the Judiciary Oversight Director. And she says your case is ‘low-to-no priority’, and she ‘may look at it sometime next year.’”
“What’s her problem?” asked Spats.
“Oh, she never liked me,” grumbled Celestia.
“Okay, can we do something about her?” Radish asked.
“Judiciary Oversight Director is an elected position. She would have to be unseated in the municipal elections… which are two years from now.”
Radish slumped back in his seat. “Princess… I think there might be some flaws in our justice system.”
Celestia winced and drooped her ears. “I’m sorry, Radish. Maybe if I had taken a more involved role in building the system, it would be in a better state today.”
“It’s not your fault, ma’am. Like you said, I'm good at finding holes in things. I guess I just fell through the cracks this time.”
“We’re not going to let this miscarriage of justice stand, major,” avowed Celestia.
“Here, here!” announced Spats, banging his hoof on the table. “If we have to start by ousting the Director, then, by gum, that’s what we’ll do! Why, I’ll run for the position myself! We’ll get you your justice, Rad, if it takes the rest of our lives!”
“Indeed,” said Celestia. “And I have favors I can call in, deals I can make, and certain… lengths I could go to…”
Radish stood up. “Stop. Both of you, just stop.”
“Stop what, Rad?” asked Spats.
“Spats, you got into law because you want to improve the system from the inside, right? To help ponies back in the old neighborhood. Well, you’ll never have any kind of law career if you’re associated with me. I’d be the last pony you’d ever help.”
“Rad, I’m not going to leave you in the lurch for my career.”
“And princess, you’ve already spent way too much of your life worrying about me. I’m one guard out of hundreds who work for you. Remember what you said about how you need to split your heart evenly amongst everypony?”
She shook her head. “Not anymore, Radish. I’m going to be selfish on this.”
“You’re both forgetting one thing- I am guilty. I exposed a kid to something a kid shouldn’t see. That’s not in question. If Worthy Wagoner did that, you wouldn’t be going out of your way trying to help him. I have to face the mus… uh, take my punishment. Like a stallion.”
“Absolutely not, Radish,” said Celestia. “We cannot accept this ruling.”
Radish stood up, walked over to Celestia, and hugged her. Celestia’s eyes went wide.
“Uh, I’ll just… give you two the room,” said Spats. He left out the door.
“Princess Celestia,” said Radish, looking up at her, “it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay, Radish,” she said, returning the hug, "injustice for one is injustice for all.”
“I’m lucky to have evaded jail time for my cutie marks as long as I have. But if I don’t take responsibility for them, I have no business being your guard. I can’t enforce the law and flout it at the same time.”
“Radish…”
“This is my decision to make, and I've made it.”
“Light is going to be pissed at you.”
“Heh, yeah.”
“She’s going to be pissed at me, too.”
“Sorry.”
Radish stopped on the sidewalk in front of Cat’s Howl. The store was closed and dark inside. He peeked through the window. Junk mail was accumulating under the mail slot in the door.
“Major?”
Radish turned to see Splash Page.
“Oh, hi, Splash Page.”
“I, uh, heard about the trial. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Could you do me a favor?”
“What?”
Radish pulled an envelope out of his coat and passed it to Splash Page. “If you see Light, could you give this to her?”
He took it. “Oh. Yes, I can do that.”
“And keep her out of trouble, will you?”
“Well, I definitely can’t do that.”
Radish walked down a long hallway of the Canterlot courthouse. His sentencing was scheduled to begin in five minutes. As he rounded a corner, he found himself face-to-face with Twilight and her friends, who were standing in front of the door to the courtroom.
“Hi, ladies.”
Twilight stepped forward. “Radish, don’t go in there. We can’t let them get away with this. I’m reading as many law books as I can get my hooves on, and-”
Radish stepped forward and hugged her. “Twilight, I’m doing this.”
“But-”
He nuzzled her cheek. “And if I end up going to jail, I'll need my pen pal now more than ever.”
She whimpered. Applejack added herself to the hug. “Radish, this is my fault. Flim and Flam are my nemesises. I shoulda been there to foil them again.”
“It’s okay. You’ll get ‘em next time.”
Fluttershy joined in the hug. “I could talk to Discord about this. Maybe he can alter reality for you or something?”
“Please, no.”
Rainbow Dash scowled at Radish. “I know why you’re doing this.”
“Yeah? Why?”
“You think going to prison will make you seem cooler than me.”
“Now, who could ever be cooler than Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow Dash hugged him. “Not you, you big dummy.”
Rarity placed a bag from her boutique down on the floor.
“Radish, dear, I’ve heard those prison cells can be awfully drafty. That’s why I’ve crafted this for you- incarceration couture.”
She pulled out a bright orange knit cap from the bag and affixed it snugly on his head.
“Thanks, Rarity. It’s nice.”
“And if your cellblock chums ask where you got it, you’ll be kind enough to share with them my mail-order catalog, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
Pinkie Pie gave Radish a small cake box, then put a hoof to the side of her mouth and whispered in his ear.
“I baked this cake for you. I put a little something extra in the filling, if you know what I mean. A ‘special ingredient’, if you will.”
“Thanks, Pinkie Pie. I do and I will.”
Radish broke the group hug. “Now, I’ll see you all later, one way or another.”
Radish Root sat in front of Judge Bigwig Bangs for the second time. Only he, the judge, the court reporter, and the bailiff were in the room.
“Radish Root,” started the judge, “you were, ahem, found guilty of Indecent Exposure, Breach of the Peace, and Corruption of a Minor. But in light of certain… circumstances surrounding the trial…”
Radish narrowed his eyes.
“...the court has seen fit to demonstrate leniency and apply the minimum sentence of ninety days in prison.”
Radish cocked his eyebrows.
“Furthermore, in the interest of certain… community interests… the court has decided to commute that sentence to fifty hours of community service.”
Radish’s posture and ears perked up.
“And that community service will be administered at the discretion of your assigned rehabilitation sponsor, who will be in contact with you shortly regarding your… assignment. Court is adjourned.”
He banged his gavel, then left out a back door. Radish sat for a moment, then stood up. “Uh, so that’s… it? I can go?”
The bailiff and the court reporter nodded. Radish stood up, then walked back to the room’s large double doors. Before he reached them, the doors burst open, and Twilight and her friends leapt through and piled on him, cheering and whooping.
“Hi, girls. I’m guessing you were listening at the door?”
“Radish, I’m so relieved!” cried Twilight, squeezing him.
“Me, too,” said Radish, hugging her back.
“Community service? Pffft. You can do that standing on your head,” said Rainbow Dash, giving him a noogie.
“Hey!” said Pinkie Pie, shoving her muzzle into Radish’s, “You know what this calls for?”
“I don’t think this really warrants a par-”
“A PARTY!”
Radish managed to negotiate Pinkie Pie down from a party to an intimate gathering in his palace quarters. Aside from AG1, Radish’s closest friends from the guards and palace staff came. Spats and Rarity avoided eye contact throughout the evening. Celestia and Luna showed up, smiling brightly.
“Major, I was so relieved to hear about your sentencing,” said Celestia.
“Indeed,” said Luna, “it was welcome news to wake up to.”
“Thank you, princesses. Say, uh, I don’t suppose either of you had anything to do with it? Did you do some kind of… backroom wheeling and dealing to save my hide? Maybe pop a few nightmares into the judge’s head?”
The sisters looked at each other. They shook their heads.
“As far as I know, all of my attempts to nudge the bureaucracy in the right direction were fruitless,” said Celestia.
“And my power over dreams is a sacred duty,” said Luna. “To weaponize it would be to employ Nightmare Moon’s methods.”
“I see,” said Radish. “Well, I guess sometimes a guy catches a break.”
Radish trotted off to speak with Spats. Luna leaned over to Celestia’s ear.
“But seriously, sister, did you secure this outcome?”
Celestia shook her head. “No, I thought you did.”
“Hmm.” Luna looked at Twilight. “You don’t think young Twilight Sparkle did the ‘backroom wheeling and dealing’, do you?”
“If so, I’m impressed,” said Celestia. “And a little concerned. It’s not something I taught her.”
Pinkie Pie bounced up to Radish. “Hey, Raddy! Let’s cut that cake!”
Radish looked over to his desk, where he had put the cake Pinkie Pie gave him before the sentencing. “Oh, right.”
The guests gathered around him as he sliced into it. Fake rubber snakes burst out and landed all around the room. The party guests laughed. Radish smiled.
The gathering ended late. The guests said their goodbyes. As Radish prepared for bed, he heard a knock at his door. He opened it to see a towering reddish-brown earth stallion in an overcoat.
“Good evening, major.”
Radish took a step back, trying to remember where he had seen the stallion before. He realized he knew him from portraits and photos on the walls of Plains Ranger Academy. Radish was face-to-face with the head of the entire Ranger organization.
“...Admiral Sunset Rider?”
“That’s me,” he said affably. “Forgive the hour of the call. May I come in?”
Radish stepped out of the way and saluted. “Yes sir!”
The admiral entered. Radish closed the door. “Uh, to what do I owe the pleasure, sir?”
He held up a file folder. “I’m here to brief you on your new assignment.”
“I’m, uh, I’m no longer a ranger, sir.”
“Your community service assignment.”
“You’re my rehabilitation sponsor?”
“That’s right. Equestria needs your help, Root.”
Completely irrelevant whether they agree or not, given that the verdict shouldn't even carry any legal weight whatsoever.
In the show, we see ponies being nigh-on terrified of even minorly displeasing Celestia, but what power does she even have? Zero? Can't even stop unspeakably blatant corruption?
This entire arc is just giving me a feeling of supreme meh.
While I'm happy for Radish, I still can't help but feel frustrated at this whole thing. In this whole trial "arc" No one learned anything, no one had any real character development, it didn't tie into any of the current plot with Light Fantastic, I'm not even sure if Cadence and Shining were even aware this was happening (Let alone Shining and Radish having a showdown), and even Radish and Celestia didn't really grow from this, since there wasn't really anything said between them that hasn't already been said before, and it overall serves no purpose to the story as with this chapter, it was all resolved in a few sentences and isn't likely to be mentioned very much again.
It pains me to say it, but these last four chapters just felt like a ploy to troll the audience rather than advance the story in any way. Especially since it was resolved in just a few paragraphs again. If you were to remove them from the story, and just have Sunset Rider approach Radish shorty after Light vanishes, absolutely nothing would change and there would be far less annoyance at the story seemingly refusing to go anywhere whenever we think that something major is going to happen.
I'm trying really hard not to get too upset, since this story has such great potential, but it's been getting increasingly difficult with each arc. Especially with how promising this one looked at the beginning.
Glad this is over. The thing about the Princesses having no control over the judicial system is nonsense. Well, let's see what trouble Radish gets forced into now.
11805354
It passed the time a little bit and stopped Radish from possibly finding out that there's no such artist's gathering that she supposedly went to from her artist friends. That's the only thing it did.
Other than that... Even if the Princesses can't just fire government workers (which are "employed by the Crown", as it's called in countries with royal rule), they should still have something like the ability to grant a Royal Pardon.
Even most democracies have the possibility of presidential pardons and the like, and they supposedly exist in case of wrongful conviction cases exactly like this.
Celestia has been useless as of the introduction of Twilight Sparkle.
She should have been dethroned the second Luna was available.
Arguably the only thing she ever really accomplished was mental
abuse of Twilight and Threatening her in the Smarty Pants Incident.
Not sure if the sending of the old letters to her when Discord escaped
should be counted, not sure if releasing him to Fluttershy should be
counted either.
At first this seems unrealistic but then I remembered how Al Capone trial went. For anyone who doesn’t know pleading guilty would have reduced his sentence some but the judge literally didn’t let him plead guilty. Pretty much immediately found him guilty without letting him choose how to plead. I’m guessing the same thing happened here, not because Radish being behind bars is a top priority like Capone was but because they need him to do a secret mission hidden from even the princesses themselves via community services.
kinda feel, it should have had a small scene where celestia unleashed the pony IRS on flim and flam to look into their finances, as a consequence of targeting root, make it clear to them and those behind them dont mess with radish root or you deal with celestia
It requires some reflection to consider what the recidivism rate is for a recently remanded and rapidly released Radish Root.
11805384
Don't forget that Capone's entire jury was switched with another jury before the trial started when they found evidence that some of the jurors had taken bribes.
11805354
Yeah, this arc has mostly been ridiculous, especially compared to the earlier chapters.
for them to be talking to root as if he were rambo things are strange, this means that they know about the various secret missions that root participated in and know of his success in them, I hope to see a badass root scene,
There are several problems with this arc, not the least of which being that should have been a law already on the books protecting against discrimination or condemnation of any kind relative to a pony's cutie mark, simply due to how central to their culture they are. This whole storyline was a farce of the highest order, even before Flim and Flam kangaroo'd the shit out of that courtroom.
It really makes me question the Upper Escalon of Justice seem to be very corrupt or owned individuals. Seem also that some higher political parties were able to deflect the sentence, but I think now that Radish may be sent to Our Town for his community service.
11805471
Considering that Celestia (Very publicly) believes that the Plains Rangers are "Rule-Snubbing Smoke Watchers" who slack off with easy assignments, I can see why Sunset Rider would be eager to bring Radish into a mission without any of the Royals or AG1 knowing. Plus no matter what Shining and (To a lesser extent these days) Celestia believe, Radish has proved himself a very capable spy and soldier.
As a side note, this was (iirc, I'm unsure about the EQ Games) the first time the Mane 6 and Celestia have directly interacted outside of world-ending catastrophes since her second meltdown, and the first time Twilight and Celestia have directly interacted in a casual setting since the Princess accused her of possibly sucking up to her to try to sleep with her too. I'm surprised there wasn't more awkwardness there. (Also, Spike vanished off the face of the earth in the party. Not really relevant to the rest of my criticisms, but still irritating)
11805384 My understanding was that the judge in the case refused to sign off on the plea bargain the prosecutor struck with Capone's attorney, which is something that judges are empowered to do.
Isn't Celestia/Luna the highest authority in the country? What's the point of them being princesses if they can't pardon something or oversea case of great importance also given the fact that radish is a guard member shouldn't this been handled by the pony equivalent of the military justice system instead of civilian justice system?
Snakes? Surely I wasn't the only one who expected Pinkie to have baked a file or used acid frosting so Rad could melt the cell lock?
11805521
What probably happened is that they recused themselves from the legal system to prevent accusations of corruption. The probably don’t have any power over judges.
11805501
That’s kind of the point, it’s obvious that their system is corrupt as HELL. Celestia is probably going to end up tearing it down to its roots (heh).
11805591
That is insane to me that they have no power in the justice system
11805527
Nah, think Beagle Boys from Ducktales!
Remember how Ma Beagle always baked cakes for her boys? Cakes with very special ingredients...
Tomatoes 'N' Turnips (or TNT for short).
11805594
same goes for education, but that's canon.
Probably your weakest arc. Wish I knew what you were planning, but oh well. Hopefully the ball keeps rolling and we can pretend you never wrote this.
Going to make a guess that Radishes new assignment is getting dirt on the ones in charge of the trial, and uncovering an undercover organization in the process. seems like his style tbh. Heck it could even be a long running thing and the inadequacies with the education panel could ALSO be the result of the same group!
Gotta wonder if this finally ties in with Radish’s Royal Spymaster daydreams. Is this what Worthy Wagoner meant when someone comes in last minute to fix all the problems? Would that mean that this new character conspired to have Root conscripted? I kinda liked how the scene played out at the beginning. It was sorta a meta reflection of the comments section from the last chapter.
I loved Pinkie Pie’s snakes- that’s right on character for her. I forget why Spats and Rarity would be standoffish? Anyone remember why that was?
I would hope Celestia takes a serious interest in Radishes’ Community service otherwise why bother having that great dream sequence with Worthy? Also, Radish nuzzling all the Mares! Can’t help but wonder what Celestia and Twilight felt in those embraces.
Gotta still admit that I’m grieving the opportunities a trial could have had for hitting some of the issues and themes this whole story is I hope still going to address at some point. Still, gotta hand it to you Cocktail, I manage to keep being surprised at every turn- and I can’t thank you enough for such imaginative storytelling.
…Was this all a ploy for this guy to snag Root specifically away from Celestia’s clutches so that he can get her favorite and most qualified guard on a secret mission to save Equestria?
…And will Daring Do be there?
11805752
Oh, Spats offhandedly insulted how Rarity looked in her powered up form after she restored his magic, the chapter after they defeated Tirek I believe.
11805777
Thank you kind sir!
11805643 The issue with Celestia having essentially removed royal authority from educational oversight is an interesting one for what it says about canon. Let's look at the actual facts in that regard (disregarding anything the comics might have to say about it, since as it turns out Spike wrote them).
In School Daze - Part 1 (season eight, episode one), Princess Celestia says the following:
Now, she doesn't explicitly address the issue of why "not even a princess can do whatever she likes" in that regard, but the separation of powers is clear.
Until the very next episode (School Daze - Part 2, season eight, episode two), when Twilight overturns that entire paradigm, and Celestia supports her:
And right there, without ever explicitly saying so, Twilight completely overturns that separation of powers, and Celestia supports her. Prior to then, the EEA had authority (as recognized by Celestia and Twilight both) to shut down any school that didn't operate according to its terms. Twilight, however, openly redefines the EEA's prerogative here. Now, instead of having oversight powers regarding educational institutions, their accreditation becomes a mere endorsement, rather than a necessary prerequisite to operate. And Celestia supports her in that endeavor. Saying that she can have a non-EEA school is Twilight exercising executive authority over a domain previously relegated to the EEA, displaying absolute political authority (other princesses notwithstanding) in doing so. And Neighsay has no choice but to accept and work within that new paradigm, implicitly recognizing that there's no higher authority to appeal to nor checks and balances to be had.
Now, any fic can set its own rules, since most of Equestria's infrastructure is so heavily glossed over in the show, and of course anything set prior to season eight can use the existence of the EEA to play up Celestia having voluntarily divested herself of political authority in favor of various organizations. But the above reminds us that the princesses have ultimate political control over Equestria, choosing to let ponies run certain things on their own, and that they can snatch back the reins (horse pun alert!) of power whenever they wish.
With the legal system so irredeemably corrupt, I think the best course of action would be to venture into the city slums and offer some homeless crack addict fifty bits to shank Flim and Flam.
At least, that's what I would do.
This is a very pony result, IMO, despite how much it grates us readers.
The problem should be that now he's vulnerable to being charged again almost any time he's without friendly witnesses, and he's a constant political vulnerability to the Guards and Celestia. Will it come up again? Who knows, since it looked like a setup but we don't know who and why.
11805704
Never took a humanities graduate course, eh?
At least you can have coffee as you read from three different books at once, take notes, stick post-it notes in the marginalia, etc. for 12+ hours at a time. Most research libraries and reading rooms ban beverages for obvious reasons.
11805861
yeah, that's a good point, but I think you missed what happened. Celestia couldn't control the EEA because it wasn't governmental. It was just a board that everyone put trust in to safeguard education. So of course she can't order them around. The worst they could do was refuse accreditation from an institution.
Twilight gambled that her reputation would carry the school without accreditation even though every other school in Equestra needs it (or being in the accrediation process) to attract students.
SO… in that model, this example doesn't help with an 'independence of the judiciary' argument, because there's no way that judges aren't part of the government like the EEA isn't.
This is interesting. Firstly my opinion of the Judge is slightly lifted. He is a sort of whiskey priest. He at least has enough respect for justice to be aware something crazy happened there; even if his ego and sense of self important won't let him admit to it publicly.
The fact that the Military seemingly has enough clout to interfere where the Princesses can't or won't is frankly alarming.
Not that Root will mind. It's something he has been campaigning for for a while now. But it's a slightly unnerving prospect that the Military has the willpower and means to recruit from the desperate and circumvent not just the Princesses but the justice system as a whole.
Sure the result is good, but the fact that had that ability in the first place is almost as alarming as the flaws in the Justice System.
I half expected Celestia to invoke her royal prerogative to dissolve the judiciary and trigger a constitutional crisis. I am almost certain that several of her powers are untested. For many decades the Queen of England possessed the ability to dissolve the British Government. In theory. In practice as soon as she did, or attempted to deny royal assent, the government would simply declare that she didn't.
Celestia probably could simply declare the judgement to be null and void. So much of the public has loyalty to her, she could probably do it.
But it would shatter the illusion that she was anything other than an absolute ruler.
I suspect Celestia has many such powers which would be removed from her should she attempt to use them.
The reality is that all legislation, all judiciary, all governance exists only in so much as everyone can agree they exist. They are - like the value of paper money - an illusion that exists and does real things, so long as everyone adheres to the principle they do.
11806106 With all due respect, you're the one who missed what happened. The issue of whether or not the EEA is governmental (which is in-and-of itself highly suspect; nothing in the episode confirms that) is pointless because when you're an absolute monarch, everything is within your sphere of control. Celestia initially acknowledged that the EEA had regulatory powers that "even a princess" couldn't ignore. Twilight's response was, ultimately, to ignore those regulatory powers anyway, and Celestia backed her up.
When that happened, the EEA had no recourse. All power is reserved to the princesses, and any power which is distributed to other institutions can be removed at any time. The issue with the EEA shows that Equestria doesn't have checks and balances, or limits on royal authority. Chancellor Neighsay's power to shut down Twilight's school was legitimate, until Twilight decided that it wasn't anymore. And that was that. If the EEA isn't a part of the government, that only goes to show just how much power Equestria's princesses really have, in that they can redefine the functions of even private entities on a whim, because they have literal sovereign power.
That's what the canon tells us, at least. Clearly this fic is doing things differently.
11806054
Oh I'd drop dead on the spot :P Not only do I hate the taste of coffee with a passion, I have ADHD so caffeine is a sleep aid. One time I forgot my meds on an overnight trip and my mom had me drink mountain dew so I wouldn't bounce of the walls.
I hold no envy for your battles. Good god.
11806289
But in the end, Celestia and Twilight still couldn't force the EEA to accredit Twilight's school- Twilight was forced to run an unaccredited school. They didn't change how the system worked, they started an alternative system outside of it. And similarly, the crowns don't have power over municipal courts, they have alternatives. Celestia's alternative system to the City Watch is her Royal Guard, and she can pardon anyone her guards arrest. Meanwhile, Twilight's power over pardons and punishments is something as new and unique as her title.
11806431 I'm certainly not going to get into a debate with an author over how things work in their own story!
Insofar as the canon goes, however, it seemed to me like Twilight and Celestia did change how the system worked. Recall that Chancellor Neighsay said (as noted in the quotes below) that if a school wasn't EEA accredited, then it wasn't a school. Twilight redefined that to be an endorsement rather than a necessary prerequisite to operate, and Neighsay had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it.
Now, flash forward to Friendship University (season eight, episode sixteen). The Flim Flam Brothers, in the course of their "Friendship U" song, mention that their school is about to be accredited. Now, how long it's been operating isn't ever defined in the episode, but the implication seems to have been that it's been going for at least a little while, since they already have a substantial student body, classrooms, materials (albeit copied from Twilight's course materials), etc. It's only after that, and seeing that Star-Swirl is a student, that Chancellor Neighsay confers accreditation on the school.
All of which is to say that the implication seems to be that even Neighsay has accepted that the EEA no longer controls whether or not a school is allowed to operate; it can only confer an endorsement, and no longer has any power to shut things down. (As for things like the courts and policing agencies, the series is fairly silent on both; a search of the transcripts for MLP:FiM found no listing for "city watch" as a term.) Twilight and Celestia, in other words, changed the entire system (I'd argue that was because they knew it was a bad system, and wanted it gone once Neighsay started being openly xenophobic, rather than just getting approval for Twilight's own project, but that's speculative on my part), which is far and away a greater show of power than just demanding accreditation in the first place.
None of which has any bearing on your story, of course. It's just one of the very few times that we get any sort of glimpse into Equestria's sociopolitical infrastructure over the course of the show, and it's notable for how it seems to suggest that the princesses have limited political powers, but a closer examination tells us exactly the opposite.
Y'know, I completely forgot that juries just decide innocent/guilty, and it's up to a judge to actually sentence him. A fine way to resolve it.
So, the plot deepens, as it were. It'll be interesting to follow the next arc of the story.
I did not expected that.
11806218
She's a demigod who has maintained something like a 90% approval rating for hundreds of years. The ambitious might try to remove those powers, but they'd have an honest-to-god grassroots voting block that would annihilate them in the first set of elections and put Celestia back in command.
She's as close to 'unassailable' as any politician can possibly be in a system that legitimately tries to do right by their people. The God-Emperor of Mankind is probably more secure, but that's probably because 40k sucks and he's literally the only thing standing between mankind and total annihilation.
11807284
True. But she has maintained that approval rating by not doing things like overthrowing the judiciary the moment they produce a ruling she dislikes; and allowing her people to be as democratic as possible.
Royal power,like most forms of governance, only exists so long as people think it exists. That is why many authority figures who have huge theoretical powers often do not exercise them.
She can, in theory, rule as dictator. The moment she attempts to do so, she will lose that power. So can she in practice, rule as dictator? It's Shrodinger's authority. She both does and doesn't, until the waveform collapses.
Were she to ever actually test the limits of her power and authority, she may find herself with less when all is said and done.
11807400
Assuming Equestria is a constitutional monarchy and Celestia has 'Shrodinger's authority' as you stated (an opinion with which I don't agree as she is in fact an absolute leader) I would concede the point for humans, but ponies are pretty clearly a herd species. They react very differently to things like a leader actually exercising power because they both expect their leaders to LEAD and they expect to surrender their individual opinions to the will of the herd. I'd bet that most of them would just say 'Oh, Celestia stepped in and changed the ruling? Well I guess the ruling was wrong then. Good thing we have Celestia looking out for injustice like that!' and think no more on the subject because Celestia is the herd leader and they know instinctively that she represents the herd.
Think about how many situations in MLP can be summed up as 'someone panicked and spooked the group over nothing, requiring intervention by a 'herd leader' before things could return to normal'? The 'herd' mentality is very real and is important to keep in mind as something fundamentally different than humanity, and it's the reason Celestia could likely act as a tyrant for at least a while before ponies would even START to question things.
11806289
She's clearly not an absolute monarch, even in canon.
11806441
Neighsay saying that about schools was not necessarily a matter of legality - it could have been a claim about influence. Like, 'if your institution's not accredited it might as well not exist. A degree from it won't get you into anything. Is it even a school then? Just a bunch of nags standing around chatting with children. I roll my eyes in your general direction.'
11807870 I disagree. While Celestia doesn't exercise her power much, she very clearly is an absolute monarch, as the canon establishes absolutely no limits to the authority she's shown to possess (the only possible exception being where her fellow princesses are concerned). There's no senate, no constitution, no judicial review, etc. that we're ever shown or told about, and so no reason to assume they exist. Heck, she even unilaterally declares that Twilight is also a monarch after becoming an alicorn, and everypony just accepts it.
As for Neighsay, you're interpreting ("could have been") his speech in a manner that requires assumptions to be made, running afoul of Occam's razor. The entire premise up until that point was that he had, via his organization, regulatory powers. Twilight, in a single instant, redefined his institution's mandate to be nothing more than an endorsement, and there was nothing he could do. That's the power of an absolute monarch, and there's really no other way of understanding that sequence without introducing your own interpretations, which take you further away from what the canon says.
11808086
You forget that this fic had an entire arc where ponies were questioning Celestia's decision to make Twilight a princess. As for there being "no senate, no constitution, no judicial review" just because we don't see them in the show doesn't mean they're not there.
11808225 Actually, you forgot that I explicitly stated that we were talking only about show canon, and not the specifics of this fic.
Also, "just because we have no evidence for them doesn't mean that they're not there" is not how logical reasoning works. Again, Occam's razor. While an absence of evidence does not constitute evidence of absence unto itself, neither does it constitute any reason to presume that something is present. Ergo, to assume that it is present is just that: an assumption, and so not something that should be relied upon when conducting an analysis.
11808086
… except for that one example we were just JUST talking about just now where Celestia says she legally can't do a thing. Like,
And no, Twilight didn't unambiguously do that. You have two interpretations and you're just… saying one is wrong and downvoting me for thinking there is another interpretation. And you take the branch that requires Celestia to just have been lying that she couldn't do it. Way to go.
11808390 You mean the one example where Celestia says she can't do a thing, i.e. overturn the EEA, and then in the very next episode supports Twilight overturning the EEA? Because that doesn't support the point you're making; quite the opposite, in fact.
And yes, Twilight did unambiguously do that. It's not an interpretation, it's literally what she says:
Given that the context, which as you yourself pointed out, is that Celestia had previously laid down that the EEA has the power to regulate schools that supposedly even a princess can't defy, Twlight's defying that makes what's happening here completely unambiguous. Again, we see her new paradigm come into play in Friendship University (season eight, episode sixteen), so there really is no legitimate basis for arguing against what happened: the canon is very clear. There's no senate to declare that Twilight's actions are illegitimate, no judge strikes down her order, no approval process of any kind needs to be passed. She makes a declaration, and that's how it is from then on.
And no, Celestia wasn't "lying." That's you, again, interpreting things your way. That was her operating under the existing paradigm of her own free will. The same way she later, of her own free will, backed Twilight when Twilight overturned that paradigm.